Plumbing Africa Plumblink's first hundred stores | Page 10

“The general mix of product has become
far narrower than it was 10 or 15 years ago.
The market has contracted on the type of
product we use – this is something common
to the entire market, not just Plumblink.
The water meter, solar heating systems
and heat pump markets, for example, have
become more parallel to the merchant
supply business – from manufacturer direct
to installer, or in some cases municipality –
all bypassing the merchant.” With a footprint
of 100-plus stores and a product range of
multiple items, it can cost a huge amount
of capital and space to stock a single Solar
system, in every branch – and when you do,
it is probably not the type, size or brand the
client wants – hence the stocking of these
items in the regional DC’s,” says Chandler.
“The major product categories for
Plumblink are water heating products,
making up a relatively large chunk of the
mix (simply because of its high value);
brassware, copper, HDPE, PVC and copper
alternatives. We do concentrate on the
formal contract side of the business, which
adds a sizeable percentage of total turnover,
but ultimately it’s about the domestic side
of plumbing products – PVC, geysers, taps,
pipe and fittings – product categories for
what we call ‘trade’, which accounts for
the lion’s share of our total sales. The latter
(trade) component has grown substantially
over time as the group’s footprint has
expanded and more ‘bakkie plumbers’ have
come to be within range of a Plumblink
store – exactly what we set out to do all
those years ago – take our business to the
customer – we recognise that time is money
to these guys.”
Eleven years ago, Plumblink had 19 stores,
each much larger, and each serving as a
hub for the contracts business in the main.
The huge increase in stores has taken
Plumblink to many smaller areas and towns
where the formal contract business is less
prominent and domestic trade plumbing far
more attractive as a target customer for the
small store model.
“Our vision was to take our business to
the plumber, so it’s no surprise our mix
today reflects that fact. We spent a lot
of time developing a product range that
reflects that market. We can’t be everything
to everybody, but rather we try to be a
professional convenience store to plumbers
to save them time,” says Chandler.
Providing a ‘plumbing solution’
It is impossible for any merchant, including
Plumblink to stock every size and type of
every product in every store, but what it
does strive to do is provide the client with
a solution to match his specific need. One
simple example, explains Chandler, is when
the client orders the item(s) he wants, it may
not be in stock as he ordered it, “In that
instance, our staff are equipped to explain to
him that, although we may not necessarily
stock the exact elbow he wants – say, a
male adaptor and a female elbow – we have
two alternative items in stock – a female
adaptor and a male elbow – and these two
products offered as an alternative to the
items on the clients list, will do the same job.
There are many ways to achieve the same
result with a little bit of product knowledge
and solution-selling from our staff.”
Although Plumblink is not strictly speaking
a retail business, Chandler says the stores
have a retail feel to them and consequently